March Madness in the state of Kentucky has been especially good for business for online ticket marketplaces.
A StubHub spokesman tells Internet Retailer that 18% of all ticket sales through the site for the Men’s Final Four in Indianapolis have come from the state of Kentucky, nearly double the next closest state, Indiana, where the tournament is being held. Right now, the cheapest tickets available on StubHub for this year’s Final Four start about $650 per seat, and that’s before processing fees are included.
The price surge can be attributed to the fact that the University of Kentucky is the consensus No. 1 team in the tournament, entering play with an undefeated record and expectations of winning this year’s title.
Kentucky isn’t just driving big business to online ticket marketplaces when it comes to the Final Four, however. Nima Moayedi, CEO of online ticket marketplace Razorgator, tells Internet Retailer demand for tickets to the Midwest Regional at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, where Kentucky could play for the right to go to the Final Four, has sent prices soaring. Right now, the average ticket price of $1,172 for a University of Kentucky matchup is nearly twice as much as the second-highest ticket price. Moayedi says two factors are driving demand: Cleveland’s general proximity to the University of Kentucky’s campus and the fact that the teams playing in this year’s Midwest Regional have fans who go to great lengths to see their teams play.
“Proximity of schools to sites has been a primary driver of demand for tickets,” he says. “Kentucky is again driving cost [higher] here. Not only is it a straight shot up I-71, but UK travels very well. So too does (No. 3 seed) Notre Dame and (No. 2 seed) Kansas.”
In earlier rounds of the tournament, games at Key Arena in Seattle generated the highest ticket price on Razorgator. That, Moayedi says, also is driven by geographic proximity, with No. 2-seeded Gonzaga University’s campus in Spokane, Wash., a four-hour drive from the arena.
“The most obvious spike in demand happens right on and shortly after Selection Sunday,” he says, referring to the Sunday before the tournament when the NCAA announces which teams will play in the tournament. “We see a 10%-15% increase in sales around this time.”
StubHub and Razorgator would not give exact figures on sales for the men’s NCAA Tournament, but StubHub’s spokesman says demand tends to picks up toward the end of the tournament, especially if a popular team like the University of Kentucky makes it to the Final Four and then the championship game.
High ticket prices prompted the Better Business Bureau to issue a statement warning consumers about online ticket scams. The agency urges consumers to take caution when buying online, to pay with a credit card and use reliable sellers.
StubHub’s spokesman says such scams happen less than 1% of the time on ticket sales made through its site, and if tickets are found to be fake, the company will try to rectify the situation.
Moayedi says all orders placed through Razorgator are backed by a 100% guarantee and that the company vets its suppliers before they can sell on the site.
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